Magic Made In Black And White

February 17, 2003|By Greg Morago

Ebony and ivory, together in perfect harmony. Hey, that's a song! It also was one of the hottest looks on the runway at Fashion Week in New York. The fall/winter collections found many designers pairing the two most opposite colors in the spectrum. Instead of a clash of the titans, however, the black-and-white color combos worked together harmoniously in collections by Narciso Rodriguez, Carmen Marc Valvo, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren.

One of Lauren's best looks (and one that harks to his most classic silhouettes) was slim, ruched velvet pants in inky black paired with a white pleated shirt, black turtleneck sweater and black Chesterfield coat. His black-white pairing also worked with an ivory shearling motorcycle jacket worn over a white taffeta blouse with black velvet tie and skinny stretch-velvet pants.

Hilfiger called his black-and-white glen plaids and houndstooth prints ``exploded'' because they were oversize. The prints certainly made a blast on the runway as his Modsters sported great herringbone dresses and skirts and houndstooth pants and four-button coats.

Valvo, who makes unabashedly feminine eveningwear, seemed to be inspired by a '50s opulence in his collection for fall/winter. Far from heaven? No, very near it. Valvo sent beautiful ivory, oyster and beluga black gowns -- sporting layers of lace, silk mousseline and organza -- down the runway. He scored big with a simple long-sleeve cashmere sweater paired with a full, petal-like skirt of ivory organza trimmed in satin.

But who had the best blacks and whites? It was Rodriguez, hands down. His entire collection was a study in the gorgeous possibilities of these strongest of colors. The impact of an all-white or all-black outfit, as Rodriguez showed, was bold enough. But when he paired them together, he made magic. There was a graphic brilliance to his black dresses cut with almost surgical precision by geometric white lines. Or a slim white suit sliced at the arms and shoulders with racy black stripes. Black never met a better white. And vice versa.